March 16, 2012

Assad's wife shops while protests rage, leaks reveal

SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad took advice from Iran on how to handle the uprising against his rule, according to a cache of what appear to be thousands of emails received and sent by Dr Assad and his wife.

The Syrian dictator was also briefed in detail about the presence of Western journalists in the Baba Amro district of Homs and urged to ''tighten the security grip'' on the opposition-held city in November.

The revelations are contained in more than 3000 documents that activists say are emails downloaded from private accounts belonging to Dr Assad and his wife, Asma. The emails also appear to show that:

■Dr Assad made light of reforms he had promised in an attempt to defuse the crisis, referring to ''rubbish laws of parties, elections, media''.

■A daughter of Qatari emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani this year advised Asma al-Assad and her husband to leave Syria and suggested that Doha may offer them exile.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/assads-wife-shops-while-protests-rage-leaks-reveal-20120315-1v819.html#ixzz1pGwEGPAc

March 12, 2012

Army disperses Women’s Day protest in W. Bank

More than 250 Palestinian and Israeli women and men were attacked by military forces at a demonstration at the Qalandia checkpoint. Several injuries were reported, including one woman who was hospitalized after being shot with a rubber-coated bullet.

The demonstration started Thursday at noon, with some 200 Palestinian women marching from Ramallah towards Qalandia – the main checkpoint on the way to Jerusalem. Demonstrators chanted slogans and held tri-lingual signs linking the feminist struggle with the struggle against the occupation. The women were joined by an international delegation, including European Parliament Member and former Vice President Luisa Morgantini, and later on by several dozen Israeli women from the Women’s Coalition for Peace.

Upon nearing the checkpoint the demonstration was suppressed by Israeli army and Border Police forces, who at first used stun grenades and the “skunk” water canon, and then moved on to “the scream machine”, tear gas and rubber-coated bullets. All this took place on the main road towards the checkpoint, which was, as always, packed with a row of cars waiting to be searched, whose drivers suffered collateral damage from the soldiers’ attack.

After several attempts to proceed in spite of the army’s acts, most women retreated back toward Ramallah, and as the soldiers started following them, several youth began throwing stones. Clashes went on for a while. Several demonstrators were injured, and one needed medical treatment after being shot with a rubber-coated bullet.

“The 8th of March symbolizes an accumulated struggle for women all around the world for freedom and justice”, said Amaal Khresha of the Palestinian Women’s Working Association for Development. “For Palestinian women under the occupation, this day is a day of marking the struggle against the occupation.” Arabia Mansur of the Women’s Coalition for Peace added that occupation and militarism will never enable the development of a society that offers women a life of happiness and dignity. “We must put a stop to the sort of education which teaches children to see reality through the barrel of a gun, and women have to stop participating in such education,” said Mansur.

The demonstration also focused on solidarity with administrative detainee Hana Shalabi, who is now on the 24the day of a hunger strike. As reported before here, Shalabi’s physical condition is deteriorating, and a decision in her appeal against her detention order is due beginning of next week.

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http://972mag.com/watch-army-disperses-international-womens-day-demonstration-in-west-bank/37516/

March 3, 2012

Disputed 2nd Intifada affair resurges in French court, HuffPost

Nearly 12 years later, the most indelible incident of the Second Intifada – in which Muhammad al Dura died in his father’s arms – is rehashed on the pages of the Huffington Post in an article that whitewashes the facts for the sake of saving Israel from bad publicity.

By Rechavia Berman

Something strange is going on over at The Huffington Post. The quasi-liberal answer to sites like Town Hall and Little Green Footballs ran a piece this week by an Israeli writer, Lilac Sigan, who pretended to give her readers a lesson in critical thinking and strict adherence to actual facts, however inconvenient they may be to one’s preconceived notions.

A laudable message, no doubt; it’s just a pity that Sigan’s actual words belied her purpose at every turn.

Sigan recounts a ruling by the French Supreme Court last week, and then proceeds to twist all but passing resemblance to the truth in order to paint Israel’s critics as fabricators of atrocities used to inflame passions against the country.

The facts, however – the very ones that Ms. Sigan so sarcastically waves as a flag of virtue – are in fact against her.

The erroneous “facts” Sigan was waving were based on a libel suit filed in France by Jamal al Dura, the father of 12-year old Muhammad Al-Dura, against an Israeli doctor, who called the said father a liar. The doctor was convicted in court of libel, but acquitted on appeal by the Supreme Court of France. Sigan took this acquittal to mean that the French court found Dr. David to be telling the truth and Mr. Al-Dura to be lying.

http://972mag.com/disputed-2nd-intifada-affair-resurges-in-french-court-huffpost/36721/

March 2, 2012

A pretty cool timelapse thing of the new Cotter Dam during the recent deluge...

It's only half finished, but it's already 11 metres higher than the old and now demolished dam that used to stand just in front of it, which makes me wonder how the old dam would have stood up to it if it'd still been there....

March 1, 2012

Posthumous baptisms. Why they're offensive...

I was catching up on some reading in GD and saw some threads on it, and was bothered by a lot of the 'It's harmless religious symbolism' type sentiments I saw. From what I've read of this baptising people after they're dead, it appears to have been done predominately to Jews, and that the Mormon church was posthumously baptising Holocaust victims up until 1995 when they agreed to stop it....

I'm an atheist, and if I can see so clearly that it's an offensive and hurtful thing to do, I don't understand why there's people who don't see it. Sure, it's some religious thing and the people being baptised are long-dead and can't be hurt anymore, but that's not what it's about. It's the families who get hurt by it, because they're here to see their family member's memory being disrespected and abused. When I see people like Anne Frank and other Holocaust victims being targeted by this stuff, I see it as an attempt to try to strip away their identity as Jews...

When it comes to symbolic gestures towards Holocaust victims, one I'd point out as being the complete opposite in intent and effect than the insensitive ones I've read about lately is one I read about a few years ago (I think it was in a book by Tom Segev) where one of the first actions after the declaration of independence for Israel was the posthumous citizenship granted to Holocaust victims. The difference between those two aren't that the latter wasn't religious, it's that the latter was a powerful and moving gesture that would have given some comfort to relatives of those who died...

February 28, 2012

Don't Tell My Mother I'm In Iran...

I posted this in the I/P group a while back, and it got a bit buried. so I thought I'd post it again. It shows a Iran that I think many people don't see, plus an added bonus is Diego Bunuel is pretty damn easy on the eye, imo. The whole series is awesome, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who wants an insight into other countries that people might not know much about...

February 14, 2012

Bullying and swarming at DU...

Nadin posted something earlier on in this forum that made a reference to it, and being someone who's never been bullied either in real life or online, I have seen it aimed at others at DU. How do other DUers react when they see it happening? Me, I usually look at the swarm and think to myself they're really doing it tough when it comes to impressing people who are onlookers. Do people think it's acceptable and somehow not bullying if the target is someone who's not one of the popular kids? And what advice is best to give someone who's being bullied at DU? I don't use the ignore feature myself, but I'd suggest it as one way to get rid of the buzzing of the swarm, coz engaging them is going to have the same result as poking a nest of bees. I'd also suggest just turning off the computer and walking away for a while. The suggestions put the onus on the person who's being bullied, but I figure if there's no way of controlling a swarm, the wisest thing to do is control yr own experience....

February 11, 2012

Does anyone else like Sebadoh/Folk Implosion?

I'm stuck in the 90's right now and can't stop listening to them....

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February 9, 2012

Where is the Bedouin Intifada?

In 2004, Israeli officials were up in arms about an impending Bedouin Intifada. But the Bedouin didn’t rebel and now, despite plans to expel tens of thousands of them from their homes in the West Bank and the Negev, things remain relatively quiet. Why?

Thursday, February 9 2012|Mya Guarnieri

As Israel steps up its expansionist policies both inside and outside the Green Line, the Bedouin community has come under particularly intense pressure.

Inside Israel, the state seeks to Judaize the Negev (Naqab) desert. This “development” includes last year’s Prawer plan, which recommends that Israel relocate between 30,000 and 40,000 Bedouin citizens, ripping them from their villages and sticking them in impoverished townships, to clear the area for Jewish-only settlements.

After the Israeli cabinet passed the Prawer plan in September 2011, Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel likened it to “a declaration of war.”

Al Arakib could be considered an opening battle. The state first demolished the unrecognized village in July 2010—destroying homes and tearing olive trees from the ground to make way for a forest to be planted by the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF). After the Bedouin residents of Al Arakib rebuilt their village, Israeli forces returned and destroyed it again. Since then, Al Arakib has been demolished and rebuilt over 30 times.

Israel’s policies are just as inhumane on the other side of the Green Line, where the so-called “Civil Administration” seeks to remove 27,000 Bedouin from Area C in order to expand illegal Israeli settlements. The Civil Administration’s plans will be carried out over the next three to six years.


http://972mag.com/where-is-the-bedouin-intifada/35017/

February 3, 2012

Westpac staff brace for more pain

I'm betting Westpac will be the first of the big four not to pass next Tuesday's expected RBA rate cut. Banks bleating about higher funding costs really annoy me

Westpac employees are bracing for the loss of as many as triple the number of job losses already announced this week as the bank adjusts to a weak economy and higher funding costs.

BusinessDay understands that as many as 1500 more positions could be at risk, adding to the cuts of 560 announced yesterday.

Westpac denied that large-scale job cut announcements are in the works. "That information is speculative and incorrect," a spokesman said.

The bank said that yesterday's disclosure would be "the most significant for this year".

"For some time now we have said that staff numbers will be less by the end of the year as we adjust to a slower growth banking environment," Westpac media relations manager Supreet Gosal said.

However, BusinessDay understands staff have been asked to document their daily activities and achievements on a fortnightly basis so that management can identify priorities for retrenchments.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/business/westpac-staff-brace-for-more-pain-20120203-1qwxc.html#ixzz1lK2E3TEQ